The Rock changed a lot about WrestleMania when he made his surprise return for a one-night special appearance on WWE RAW’s Day 1 episode. After he dropped that “Head of the Table” tease, the idea that fans may finally see Rock vs Roman Reigns is a very popular one. That leaves a big question about plans they already had in line.
WrestleMania 40 Plans
Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes was the plan for the Undisputed Universal Title match at WrestleMania 40. That would have seen Rhodes return a year after his Mania 39 loss to face Reigns again. After The Rock returned to the picture, that brought a big possible change.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that, “Reigns’ opponent is expected to be either The Rock or Rhodes, or it could be a three-way.”
Roman Reigns’ Match (Exclusive)
While we cannot provide any information about WWE’s final decision for Reigns’ WrestleMania main event match, we can confirm that one of those three options is off the table. A triple threat match is not going to be how they resolve this issue.
A tenured member of the WWE creative team confirmed to me that there will be, “No Triple Threat for Mania.” I was told that the creative team was informed of that last week.
At this time, I am told that The Rock, Roman Reigns, and Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania situation “is being held tight at the highest levels.”
History of The Rock vs Roman Reigns at WrestleMania
The Rock vs Roman Reigns was pencilled in for WrestleMania 37 at SoFi Stadium, but then that event was moved to Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, because WrestleMania 36 went down in front of zero fans. The pandemic caused Tampa to lose Mania 36, but WWE’s dedication to Florida brought them back for a show of shows in front of live fans the next year.
The big cousin vs cousin main event was then tabled after I was told The Rock was a “virtual lock.”
The Rock later confirmed on the Pat McAfee Show that he was very close to having that match against Roman on the grandest stage of them all, but things changed.
“The Rock headlining WrestleMania with Roman Reigns, SoFi Stadium, that was locked. We were doing it. But let me just tell you, so about the beginning of 2022, Nick Khan, very good friend, he’s the man, he was very instrumental in bringing Vince and I together. We all flew to LA, we met, we sat. This was the beginning of 2022. We broke out the Teremana, we toasted life, we toasted the business we love, and about an hour later, we started talking about the potential of what this match could be between myself and Roman Reigns headlining WrestleMania at SoFi.”
The Royal Rumble event on January 27th will likely answer more than a few questions about what WWE is planning for WrestleMania 40. Don’t count on a triple threat match, but the Tribal Chief is practically guaranteed to have a big match at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.
